Get the Most Out of Black Friday and Cyber Monday
A little bit of preparation ahead of this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday could put you in pole position to get the best bargains. With our quick three-step guide we show you how to bag the bargains and avoid the pitfalls in the pre-Christmas sales race.
Step One – On Your Marks!
Preparation is key.
If you let your heart overrule your head you’re in danger of buying the ‘must-have’ item at a seemingly ‘must-have’ price only to discover when the excitement has waned that it’s not what you want after all.
To avoid buying things you don’t actually need, or compromising on what you actually want, the first step to successful Black Friday shopping is to make a wish list. Canny shoppers will include in this not only things they want to gift to family and friends for Christmas, but also items they’ve been thinking about purchasing for themselves.
The big pre-Christmas discount days can offer some amazing prices on all sorts of goods, whether it’s perfume or sofas, TVs or cookware. Not everything will be suitable to give as presents, but some of it might be useful to buy for yourself. The only way to make sure you’re buying things you want or need is to make a list before you even start to look at the deals on offer.
It can also be useful to note a budget you are willing to pay against each item and try not to exceed this, however attractively something is marketed to you on the day.
Step Two – Get Set!
The next step should take place well in advance of the actual Black Friday or Cyber Monday date.
Once you have your list start looking around at current prices. Find out where the items you want are stocked and what they offer in conjunction with the item. For example, is there a no quibbles returns policy, or a built-in warranty? Once you have this information you’ll know where you ideally want to make your purchases, and whether or not you can buy several items in one place potentially making the whole thing a lot easier in terms of payment and delivery.
If you can clearly identify which outlets you’ll be targeting on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, make sure you set up an account with them ahead of time, and sign up to newsletters or Social Media alerts.
The former will ensure you don’t waste valuable time on the day going through a lengthy check-out process (and potentially losing out on the item you want to buy because things can sell out in seconds). The latter potentially enables you to know ahead of time if the retailer is planning to discount the item(s) you want because they will probably send out alerts beforehand.
Step Three – Go!
Once you have all your ducks in a row the final step is to go shopping.
Whether you’re shopping online or in store you’re going to need to start nice and early. And you’ll need to have access to the internet.
Why? Because this means you can do a final comparison of prices with other retailers to make sure you’re getting the best deal. This can be done by simply Googling the item you want, or by using a price comparison service such as pricespy.co.uk
And lastly be vigilant. If you’ve managed to note down pre-sale prices on your list, you’ll be able to quickly check just how good a deal is being offered on the day. Plus, you can discipline yourself about the quality of what you buy. Retailers are obviously going to use any discount sale as a way to shift products that have been hanging around for a while, as well as entice shoppers in by offering bargains on popular products.
Make sure you’re buying the best quality you can afford and not just a lame-duck product which has been taking up shelf space in the stock room.
Good luck!